Tobacco feed machine



Aug. 113 1957 w; HEITMANN 2,802,471

"rosacco FEED MACHINE Filed Sept. 4. 1952 Fig. I

IN V EN TOR.

United sates Patent TOBACCO FEED MACHINE Walter Heitmann,Hamburg-Lohbrugge, Klapperhof, Germany Application September 4, 1952,Serial No. 307,803 3 Claims. (Cl. 131-146) The invention relates toimprovements in tobacco cutting machines and is particularly concernedwith conveyor means for out tobacco at the outlet of a tobacco cuttingmachine. It is known to allow a conveyor belt to travel at the outlet ofa cutting machine, which takes away the cut tobacco coming from thetobacco cutting machine. This tobacco, after it has left the conveyorbelt, must in some cases be fed to a device which loosens the tobacco,which in general is very strongly compressed, and sorts out the stalkspresent therein. With tobacco cutting machines having a high outputespecially machines with a rotating knife head, a great deal of tobaccomust be conveyed in a short time. Since in this case the quantity ofstalks is considerably increased it is desirable to sort these stalksout of the tobacco in order to obtain the greatest possible outputwithout having to do too much additional work with the large amounts oftobacco.

In rotating tobacco cutters the tobacco and the stalks are thrown downat an angle very rapidly by the rotating knife head onto the conveyormeans located below it. Thereby and by the high speed of the feed meansaccording to the invention the heavy tobacco particles like stalks andso on are thrown up from the base. In order that these particles shallnot fall again into the tobacco, according to the invention a device isprovided, for example above the high speed feed means, for example atable or shelf, onto which the stalks are collected while the tobacco isfed forward separately on a conveyor belt.

The features of the present invention are shown by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows a rotary cutter roll and thefeed device located below it for withdrawing the tobacco, the devicebeing seen in side view, and Fig. 2 shows the same machine from abovewith parts taken away.

In the drawings means 1 feeds tobacco to a cutter roll which is similarto that shown and illustrated in U. S. Patent 2,464,896 issued March 22,1949 and is indicated at 1 and from this the tobacco 2 falls downwardlyat an acute angle to the vertical, for example onto an endless,preferably short, high speed conveyor belt 3 having a linear speed of200 feet per minute and which runs over the rollers 4 and 5 supported atthe stands 6 and 7 and is arranged horizontally to provide asubstantially flat surface. The conveyor belt 3 is driven by a belt 8from a pulley 9 of an electric motor 10. The tobacco leaves the machineat high speed whereby the heavy tobacco particles such for example asstalks, jump upwardly and obliquely and fall for example onto a table orshelf 11. The stalks 12 can be removed independently from here andconveyed away. The tobacco 2 passes below it onto a conveyor belt 13which in the present example runs at right angles to the originalconveyor belt 3.

What I claim is:

1. In a tobacco cutting machine, a rotary cutter roll arranged todischarge the cut tobacco rapidly down- "ice wardly, an endless beltconveyor arranged horizontally and spaced below said rotary cutter rollfor receiving the cut tobacco as it is discharged from said rotarycutter, means for rapidly driving said conveyor belt and to impart tothe cut tobacco a high speed which causes the heavier particles of thecut tobacco to bounce upwardly and in the general direction of movementof said conveyor belt, means for receiving said heavier particles of thecut tobacco, and a second conveyor for receiving the remaining lighterparts of the cut tobacco, said means for receiving said heavierparticles being arranged above the conveyor belt and disposed adjacentsaid rotary cutter roll discharge in the direction of conveyor belttravel to receive heavier particles on rebound from said endlessconveyor belt.

2. In a tobacco cutting machine, a rotary cutter roll arranged todischarge the cut tobacco rapidly downwardly, a horizontally arrangedendless conveyor belt arranged to provide a flat surface arranged in ahorizontal plane for receiving the cut tobacco as it is discharged fromsaid rotary cutter, means for rapidly driving said endless conveyor beltand to impart to the cut tobacco a high speed which causes the heavierparticles of the cut tobacco to bounce upwardly and in the generaldirection of movement of said endless conveyor belt trough, meansextending transversely across said endless conveyor belt for receivingsaid heavier particles of the cut tobacco, and a second endless conveyorfor receiving the remaining lighter parts of the cut tobacco, saidtrough means being arranged above the conveyor belt and disposedadjacent said rotary cutter discharge to receive heavier particles oftobacco on their initial rebound.

3. In a tobacco cutting machine, a cutter roll rotatable about ahorizontal axis and operated with sufiicient speed to discharge the cuttobacco rapidly downwardly, a horizontal endless conveyor belt arrangedin a position spaced below said rotary cutter and having a substantiallyfiat surface extending in a horizontal plane for receiving the cuttobacco as it is thrown downwardly by said cutter roll, means forrapidly moving said endless conveyor belt and to impart to the cuttobacco a high speed which causes the heavier parts of the cut tobaccoto bounce upwardly and in the general direction of movement of the saidsurface of said conveyor means, stationary trough means arranged in aposition spaced above said conveyor belt for receiving said heavierparts of said out tobacco, and a second conveyor belt arranged in aposition spaced below said surface of said first mentioned conveyor beltfor receiving the remaining lighter parts of the cut tobacco, saidstationary trough extending across said endless conveyor belt and beinglocated adjacent said cutter roll discharge in spaced relation from saiddischarge in the direction of endless conveyor belt travel to receivesaid heavier parts of tobacco on their first rebound from said endlessbelt conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS188,053 Hinchman Mar. 6, 1877 635,076 Perkins Oct. 17, 1899 1,164,114Patterson Dec. 14, 1915 1,326,547 Teale Dec. 30, 1919 1,765,830 FuseJune 24, 1930 2,151,527 Podmore Mar. 21, 1939 2,230,195 Warren Jan. 28,1941 2,267,326 Eissmann Dec. 23, 1941 2,302,532 Downing Nov. 17, 1942FOREIGN PATENTS 4,684 Great Britain 1909

